10 Most Badass Midgets in History

Though the term midget faces mixed criticism, the little folks themselves are a hardy bunch. They’ve been exploited as ‘circus freaks’ and ‘sideshow entertainment’, dressed in silly outfits, and used as light entertainment for time immemorial. So isn’t it about time they wiped that smile off your face?

Trust us, if you ever got on the wrong side of these particular little people, you wouldn’t be laughing for long. Without further ado, then, we bring you the ten strongest, toughest, most badass midgets in history – and they’re out for vengeance!

10. Aditya Dev

Recognized as the smallest bodybuilder in world by the people at the Guinness Book of World Records, Aditya ‘Romeo’ Dev is fast becoming a celebrity – both in his homeland of India and in Great Britain too. The 2ft 9 inch, pint-sized strongman regularly works out at his local gym as hundreds of spectators look on, cheering him along his way. It must be working, as Dev can now lift 1.5kg dumbbells – over a ninth of his overall body weight. Suffice to say, anyone who ever felt like badmouthing little people had better hope Romeo ain’t there to exact his own brand of knee-high, furious vengeance.

9. Fuzzy Cupid

Fuzzy Cupid – real name Leon Stap – was a Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) regular who used to appear alongside Sky Low Low as a regular tag partner in the ’60s. With his long hair and badass glare, he was often billed as a more villainous character during his many appearances in the ring, and received such crowd hostility as a result that at varying points in his career he suffered injuries as serious as a broken vertebra and a severe blade wound. Much like his mini partner Sky Low Low, and many of the dwarfs and midgets that appeared in the NWA, very little is known about his private life.

8. Owen Farrell

If the ramblings of a 19th century writer can be taken as gospel, then Owen Farrell has to have been the strongest small person in all of history. Farrell – known as the Irish Dwarf – was reputedly capable of carrying four fully grown men, two on each arm. He was known around parts of Britain thanks to the James Caulfield book, Portraits, Memoirs and Characters, which was first published in the mid 1700s and described over 150 of the United Kingdom’s strangest, most bizarre and eccentric inhabitants. According to the book, at some point before he died, the wee fellah ‘sold his body to Mr. Omrod, a surgeon, for a weekly allowance; who, after his death, made a skeleton of his bones.’

7. Hornswoggle

The WWE mischief maker Dylan Postl has been entertaining crowds and pissing off his foes for nigh on half a decade as the cheeky Irish leprechaun Hornswoggle. He started his wrestling career at the NWA Wisconsin as $hortstack, the ‘world’s sexiest midget’, before finally settling on the WWE in 2006. He’s known for his characteristic sudden appearances during big fights, clambering onto the stage to wreak havoc, and is a dab hand at outsmarting his increasingly frustrated enemies. After running through the ring and pinning Jamie Noble – who was incapacitated at the time – Hornswoggle became the first, and youngest, little person ever to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Belt.

6. Mascarita Sagrada

One of the most legendary members of the Mexican Mini Luchador Enmascarado (mini Mexican masked wrestlers), Mascarita Sagrada has only been publicly unmasked once in his entire career. The secrecy surrounding his private life means very few people know anything of his non-wresting exploits. What we do know is that over the years the small but feisty aggressor has ticked just about every box a mini Mexican fighting fellah could hope to tick: he’s won the World and Mexican mini championships at least once each, the AAA/IWC championship, and thirteen mask wagers under either his adopted Sagrada moniker or using his other fighting name, Mini Nova. Let met tell you, he is not to be messed with.

5. Marcel Gauthier

Canadian ball-buster Marcel – more popularly known as Sky Low Low – was a wrestler in the Canadian National Wrestling Alliance who punished 30 other contestants in 1949 to win the first ever NWA World Midget Championship,. Aside from being armed with a brutal dropkick finishing move, this tough little bastard could also balance on his head unaided, and spent the Second World War in the tails of aircraft fixing rivets. You can’t buy experience like that. He was so renowned as a hard-hitting skull-cracker that he was given the nickname, ‘The Little Atlas of The Wrestling World’.

4. Diamond Lil

Diamond Lil was the pseudonym given to wrestling midget babe Katie Glass when she turned up on the doorstep of legendary female ex-wrestler and trainer The Fabulous Moolah. The meaning of the nickname was apparently down to Glass’ obsession with diamonds and jewels. Fair enough then. We felt it wouldn’t be right to have a list of the strongest, toughest midgets on earth without including a female, and Diamond Lil is the ultimate example.

3. Mike Kuhns

A native of Whitehall, Pennsylvania, Mike Kuhns was breaking world records before he could legally drink. This tough character doesn’t need the gimmicks of the wrestling business to show that little people can kick ass as much as the next man: he’s been weight training since he was twelve years old, and managed to become the 2004 Men’s 123lb National Champion aged just 18 years old! He holds world records in squats (no pun intended) and attributes his successful weightlifting career to his father training with him from an early age. Although he took time out to go to college in 2005, he remains a keen competitor, regularly defending titles and challenging for new ones. He’s clearly a popular guy, with his YouTube videos garnering thousands of views from fans and supporters.

2. Weeman

He’s fought a bull, he’s taken on a police dog, he’s been electrocuted, punched, kicked, dropped, flung and flattened in every conceivable manner, and he’s even lifted Shaq on his back! It is of course the inimitable Jason ‘Wee-Man’ AcuÃ±a. Yes, the Jackass star and pro skateboarder may not be the strongest – despite lifting Shaquille O’Neil in an infamous YouTube video – but he must surely be the toughest vertically challenged person on the planet. Weeman has been part of the Jackass crew since their conception, and has gone on to star in three full-length movies and a TV series, while being painfully pranked all along the way.

1. Andrew Stanaszek

Eight times world champion in powerlifting, two time silver winner, ten times world champion in bench press, eight times European champion in powerlifting, eight times European champion in bench press, and multiple world record holder in the squat with the barbell, bench press and powerlifting. Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you: the world’s strongest small person! A native of Poland, Andrew Stanaszek has systematically broken countless records, and has enough medals to fill a lifetime of polishing. He is without doubt the number one person you would not want to be near when discussing the ‘hilarious’ attributes of Oompa-Loompas or mocking the circus industry.